The Emotional Impact of Words on Our Mental Health
First published on Rebelle Society here
We use words to communicate our thoughts and ideas in this world. It’s no wonder that people use words in various ways to sway people.
An evangelical preacher uses emotional words to sway people. We see this when they fall down and become entranced in their worship. The same is true for political candidates. They use their arsenal of words to rally support for their campaign.
Words can evoke positive and inspiring feelings in people. They can also be negative and make people feel insecure, fearful and abused.
Innocent words
So how is it that words, that have such power, can have a negative impact on the emotional well-being of a human?
Let’s look at the word jump. On its own, this word does not hold much power. It portrays an action of pushing yourself off from the ground into the air. You see athletes that do a high jump with the help of a pole. People jump for joy when they get a bit of good news, and you jump over small obstacles that may hinder a walk or run.
But, this word was used extensively by journalists during coverage on the coronavirus. They penned sentences like “Cases jumped to xxxx in the preceding 24-hour period to new highs.” And out of the blue jump, becomes insidious and fear-induced. It attacks the mind with dark foreboding and paralyzing anxiety if read in that context.
The same is true for the word spike. One wonders why these people who bring us news use these words in such a way. Why don’t they use risen, that seems less laden with all kinds of negativity-inducing emotions? The answer is, it sells.
When you sell people fear, you sell them the notion that they have no control over their lives. that They start thinking there is only darkness, despair and no hope. And when we lose our hope and see only negativity, it becomes much easier to give up and not fight for any kind of good.
The News
The same story played out in the news. Every report seemed to have some connection with the pandemic gripping the globe. It felt like there was no end in sight. Every journalist grabbed tidbits related to it, and made it fear-inducing.
A headline that caught my attention read “Cases of COVID-19 have doubled in the last two weeks in Africa.” The article then ran on empty. But it was designed in a way to make people more afraid, more panic-laden, more scared.
It was hard to face the fact that our world was not going to be the same once the pandemic blew over. It was even harder to stomach the endless streams of reports telling us how dire things were about to get. No one ever stopped for a minute and thought about the mental aspects. Many people had to navigate hard things during this event in human history.
There could have been more stories about hope, the goodness of people and the beauty of the Earth. They could have had less talk of something that brought so much death and destruction in its wake.
People sensitive to the impact of words, had trouble with their mental well-being . To stay positive in a world where there were a lot of unknowns was not easy.
It’s not only in the news reports that we see how words are used to influence people and cause harm. Many people have experienced the power of words in a lot more personal way. Through verbal abuse and bullying, there are victims who have felt the power of words. This cam through the unkind tongues of others.
It’s a well-known fact that verbal abuse is as harmful as physical abuse, sometimes even more so. Most of the time, physical scars can heal. But the emotional impact of degrading and dehumanizing words can last for years. It can even cripple an individual which can lead to all kinds of problems.
This is also true for bullying. We’’re aware about countless cases of bullying of children. This can lead to suicide, or acting out in a negative and destructive way.
And then we weep for a while, but don’t address the problem or issue at hand. The negative impact of words that are laden with hatred, loathing and meaning. The words that break down the mental defenses of someone not equiped to handle such things.
Not everyone is immune to the power of words, and not everyone can shrug off harmful things said to them. A phrase like “Why haven’t you done this?” is critical. If you think about it, it would be better to say “I’ve noticed you didn’t do this, is there a reason for it?”
Words and tone of voice carry with it emotion, and we can never underestimate the power behind words. We need to be more careful with how we express ourselves and the way we do it. There is an emotional impact behind our words and we could unwittingly cause harm – even if our intentions are good.
The Way Forward
The next time you use words, stop for a moment and think if they are constructive or destructive, and if you find that what you’re about to say is destructive, rephrase your words into constructive feelings and emotions. The mental health of people can be vastly improved by the way we use our words.